Why do patients cooperate with medical researchers? So asks sociologists Mary Dixon-Woods and Carolyn Grant in a study analysis appearing in the June 2009 issue of Social Science and Medicine. You might think the answer is simple: they think they will benefit; they want to contribute to medical knowledge; or, they trust researchers who invite… Continue reading Cooperation and Medical Research
Tag: Informed Consent
Finding Skew: Informed Consent and Bias in Clinical Trials
Clinical researchers have long claimed that patients who enter clinical trials are better off medically than those who don’t. I’m open to the notion that patients might derive personal meaning from trial participation, but I’ve always been dubious of the suggestion that trial participation in itself is therapeutically beneficial–above and beyond drugs received– in part… Continue reading Finding Skew: Informed Consent and Bias in Clinical Trials
Disclosure in Phase 1 Cancer Trials
Followers of this blog may recall my continuing concern with the way informed consent is obtained in phase 1 trials involving patient-volunteers (typically, these patients have exhausted standard care options and enter phase 1 trials as a final shot at managing their disease). Language used by investigators in these studies is often suggestive of therapeutic… Continue reading Disclosure in Phase 1 Cancer Trials
Keeping Alive with Hope
Hope has been a consistent theme in Barack Obama’s campaign, which thankfully came to a glorious end (many of us can now “hope” to actually get some work done after weeks of checking fivethirtyeight.com every ten minutes). His book was titled The Audacity of Hope. In the close of his victory speech, he stated “Let… Continue reading Keeping Alive with Hope
On Not Getting It…
Here is the scenario: you have cancer, and your doctor has told you there is no way to treat it. But there is an experimental drug that is being offered in a phase 1 study. Your doctor asks if you’re interested. You join the study because its your best shot. You know there are likely… Continue reading On Not Getting It…